The Ghost of You
by The Great Naxa
Summary: Cloud hears a rumor about there being a ghost in the Shinra Mansion. He decides to go check it out. Is the ghost as bad as everyone says? Or is the ghost something he's always wanted? Clorith.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note -

Woot! I finally got this story up! So I actually made a trailer for it on youtube. If you would like to see it, just go to you tube and type in my name: Alyssa1818. I also have it linked on my FF page. I hope everyone enjoys this story! This is AU so they are going to be fifteen in this.

Cloud x Aerith

The Ghost of You

* * *

"Have you guys heard about the rumors?" a boy whispered.

"Yeah, a ghost in the Shinra mansion?" another boy asked.

"I heard," an older boy began, "That it's a girl, and she died in there long ago betrayed by her love and if you go in there she'll rip your heart out!" the boys gasped as he pretended to take his heart out.

"I heard," his friend started, "That she killed her whole family then killed herself! So if you go in there watch out!"

All the boys in town were talking about it. The rumors about a ghost in the mansion. All but one. He was rather quiet and didn't fit with their group. He had sapphire eyes with the spikiest yellow blonde hair.

"Hey, Cloud!"

Ah, speak of the devil.

He turned and looked at the group of boys waving him over. He hesitated because he knew those boys were trouble. He decided to go over to talk with them, plus she might come by.

"Yeah, Jak?" Cloud walked over.

"Do you believe in ghosts?" he grinned.

Cloud looked down and shook his head.

"You don't? You don't think that ghost cursed you with Geostigma? You're the only one that has it! Then why don't you go into the mansion?" the group of boys laughed.

Cloud flinched at the subject of his Geostigma. He was the only one in town that had it and no one knew where it came from or how to cure it. It was on his left arm and he always covered it. It did cause him pain every now and then but he ignored it as much as he could. He hated it.

"What are you guys laughing about now?"

They all turned and looked at Tifa, the most popular girl in town. She had dark long hair with brown piercing eyes. She wore a short shirt, a top, cowboy boots, and a cowboy hat.

"Tifa!" Jak grinned and walked toward her. "We were talking about the ghost rumors, do you believe in ghosts?"

"Hmm," she thought for a moment, "I think their real!"

"Really?!" they all remarked.

They began to laugh and soon the whole group walked away leaving Cloud alone again. He didn't pay attention to anyone except her. Tifa. He had had a crush on her since he could remember but she never noticed him at all. Its like he didn't exist to her but he couldn't help it, he liked her even still.

Cloud sighed and walked back to his house. He opened the door and looked up to see him mom making dinner. He quietly went up stairs to his room and shut the door. (In the game it's a one story but I'm changing it so he can have some privacy.) He sighed and laid on his bed.

"Ghosts?" he looked out his window, "I don't believe in them." he began to think about it till soon he drifted off into sleep.

"_A ghost…"_

"A ghost…?"

"_In the…Shinra mansion…"_

"Who is this? Hello?"

Cloud opened his eyes and realized he fell asleep. He sat up and looked out his window. It began to get dark outside.

"What a weird dream…," he rubbed his left arm.

"Cloud, time for dinner!" his mom called.

The next day Cloud ran downstairs and was about to go outside when his mom stopped him.

"What is it?" he wondered.

"It's Tifa's mom…," she trailed off.

Cloud's mom told him of how Tifa's mom died last night. She said Tifa hasn't been out of her room all day. Cloud looked to the ground, he felt so bad for Tifa. Sure Cloud didn't have a father but he didn't remember him either.

"Why don't you go comfort her?" his mom suggested.

"Yeah…," Cloud trailed off not wanting to tell his mom that Tifa actually didn't pay any attention to him but he would go check on her anyway. He couldn't help it.

Cloud ran up to Tifa's house next door. Her three bests friends were outside the window trying to get her to come out. Tifa eventually came out of the house and ran off with them. Cloud, not far behind, wanted to make sure she was safe. Tifa, blinded by her tears, was heading for the Nibel reactor. Her three friends joined her of course and Cloud followed unknowingly. As time went on and Tifa kept walking within the two hours of walking her three friends headed back to town but Cloud kept going.

Soon Tifa came to a bridge. It wasn't a very safe bridge but at that time she didn't care. Half way on the bridge it began to snap. Cloud saw this and ran to her, he grabbed her arm with his left hand. His Geostigma began to act up and his arm began to feel sharp pains. His grip on Tifa's hand broke and they both fell from the bridge.

Soon Cloud woke and saw two men running their way. He sat up and was about to say something when they snapped at him.

"Tifa!"

"Cloud! How could you bring Tifa out here all by herself?!"

After that they took Tifa and left him there. Cloud gathered his strength and walked home while holding his left arm against his chest. It still hurt. He wondered why it had to happen at that particular moment. When he got home his mom was outside crying. She ran to him and hugged him.

"Arrrghh," Cloud winced when his arm began to hurt.

"Oh!" his mother let go. "I'm sorry! Your arm? Why do you have that…," she sniffed looking at his covered arm.

Cloud went to his room and laid down on his bed. He sighed at the situation. Tifa was in a coma and he was perfectly fine. He wondered why he had the Geostigma. It made him so mad. He was the quiet one in the town, the one that followed the rules, the nice one and he was stuck with this sickness. He soon fell asleep angry at himself.

"_Shinra…mansion…"_

"What?"

"_Go…there…"_

"Why? Who is this?!"

Cloud woke, angry at the strange voice in his head. He looked at his clock, three in the morning. He clenched his fists and got out of bed, went downstairs, and quietly went outside. It was really dark outside but the full moon gave him light. He paced toward the mansion, whether it was just a weird dream or it was leaded him to something he wanted it to stop. He had enough on his mind as it is this was not helping him. When he reached the mansion gate he stopped and realized what he was doing. He was going inside the mansion which no one had been in for years. He pushed the gate open and went to the door. As he reached for the doorknob he took one more deep breath.

It was dark, really dark. The only light was through the windows and the windows were dusty. He slowly walked in and let go of the doorknob. As he walked on the floor boards it creaked. A wind blew and slammed the door shut making him jump around. It was bigger then he expected, but he kept walking forward.

"_Flo-….I mis-….,"_

Cloud stopped thinking he heard a voice. It was muffled, he couldn't quite hear what the person was saying. He took another step forward and suddenly a fuzzy bright image was forming in front of him. In all this darkness, the image was bright and white.

"I wonder how my flowers are…," she looked at him and stopped.

It was a girl. She looked about his age, with chestnut brown hair and beautiful jade eyes. Her little white dress took on her slender form well and she wore sandals with little heels on them.

Cloud realizing what he was seeing started to panic and his Geostigma started reacting again. He grabbed his left arm and fell to his knees.

"Arrrrfff," his vision started fading and he looked up to see the girl walking toward him. Before he could say anything he blacked out.

"……_are you alright? Can you hear me?"_

"……Yeah….."

"_Back then….you could only get by…with skinned knees…"_

"What do you mean by 'back then'?"

"_What about now? Can you get up?_

"What do you mean by 'that time'? What about now?"

"_Don't worry about me you just worry about yourself now."_

"…I'll give it a try."

"_Oh! It moved! How about that? Take it slow now little by little."_

"I know….hey who are you?"

"_Helloooo!"_

Cloud slowly opened his eyes to see that girl. Was he in heaven?

"_Hurray!"_


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a week since Cloud went into the Shinra mansion. He couldn't stop thinking about what had happened. He had seen a ghost, but the ghost wasn't what he expected. The ghost wasn't a scary ghoul in chains, or a see through being. She was just a beautiful girl. When he had awoken to see her, he thought he was in heaven until he realized she was the ghost. He got scared and ran out of the mansion. He hasn't been in there since, but he can't stop thinking about her smile, her voice. She didn't seem mean at all; no he knew she wasn't like that.

It had been all around town that Cloud fainted in the mansion and now all the kids made fun of him for it. Saying how scared he was, of course, he knew they were just curious if he really did see a ghost.

Cloud felt bad for running from the ghost, he could have sworn he saw her frown when he ran off, scared. He sighed and sat up in his bed.

"I'm going back…," he got out of bed, and dressed, "I'm going out mom! Be back later!" he yelled and ran out of the house.

It was in the middle of the day and Tifa and her friends seemed to have disappeared. Cloud didn't mind so much. He made his way to the mansion and stopped at the gate. He took a deep breath and went inside. As the door creaked open, Cloud poked his head inside. As the light shined through the windows Cloud realized how nice the mansion looked when it wasn't dark.

He walked inside and as he did the door behind him shut. He whirled around wondering if he would see the ghost. No one was there.

Suddenly he heard a giggle.

"The door tends to do that."

Cloud's eyes widened as he heard an angel's voice behind him. He slowly turned around and saw her standing only ten feet away from him. She was smiling.

"Oh…," he didn't know what to say.

"Welcome back," she smiled, "did I scare you last time? I didn't mean too."

"Oh no-," Cloud shook his head, "I was just…shocked."

"Well, I'm glad your back. I rarely get visitors in here," she had a glow to her figure as she walked across the room. Cloud watched as she walked, and wondered why she was stuck in this mansion.

"Yeah, people think you are a ghoul in chains," Cloud looked down, ashamed that he had thought that once too.

He looked up when he heard her giggle again, "Is that so? Well, most people think that of ghosts. It's typical," she stopped and turned to Cloud. "I actually don't have to show myself if I don't want to, but I did for you."

"Me? Why?" Cloud asked, confused.

"I don't know…I just saw you and…I wanted to talk to you," she began to think herself why she had shown herself to the boy.

"Oh," it grew silent, "I'm Cloud…," he felt a bit awkward, talking to a ghost.

"Aerith," he looked up to see her smiling at him.

He gave a small smile in return, "Nice to meet you."

Cloud and Aerith began to talk and soon he lost track of time. Eventually Cloud realized he was the one talking more than her. He was surprised on how open he became with her so quickly, and she just sat there listening, with a smile on her face.

"Sorry…am I talking too much?" he began to blush, and looked to the ground.

She laughed, "Of course not! I love to hear you talk, and to listen."

He laughed, "Well, let me hear something about you."

"Alright," she grinned, "Well, I am fifteen years old! And have been for a while," she winked, he smiled, "I love the sky, the sun, and flowers…," she trailed off.

Cloud realized that the talk of all these things made her sad since she couldn't see them anymore.

"I'm sorry," Cloud looked down, uncomfortable.

"Why?" Aerith tilted her head.

Cloud looked up at her, "I didn't mean to make you sad."

She laughed, "What makes you think I'm sad?"

He knew she was covering it up. She missed being out in the sun, in the flowers. He didn't want to push her to say it though.

"Never mind," he gave a small smile.

"I don't want your mom to worry about you, you've been gone awhile," Aerith noted, looking outside as the sun began to set.

Cloud turned and looked outside as well. He was surprised at how much time had gone by. He was even more surprised when he didn't want to leave. He enjoyed her company.

"Your right," he stood up and nodded. "Won't my mom be happy when I tell her all this time I've been talking with the ghost in the Shinra mansion?"

Aerith giggled, "Don't give her a heart attack, Cloud," she smiled.

Cloud turned and began to walk towards the door but stopped with Aerith spoke.

"Will I see you again?"

Cloud opened the door and turned, "Yeah," he said and walked out.

As Cloud walked back to his house he couldn't help but think if all that was a dream or not. Was he really talking with a ghost before and not only that, a friendly pretty girl ghost? Surely, this wasn't real. If it was a dream he didn't want to wake up. He liked not being made fun of, and more, he liked being noticed.

When he got home he opened the door to be greeted by his worried mother.

"Cloud! Where have you been?" she hugged him, "I was worried!"

"Sorry, mom," he pulled her away, "I just wanted to be alone for a while," he explained.

"I understand that honey, but for six hours?! Aren't you hungry?" she felt his forehead.

"I don't have a fever mom," he laughed. He then realized he had been gone for hours. His stomach began to rumble. If Aerith hadn't told him about his mom how long would he have stayed? "Yeah, I'm hungry, will you make me something?"

His mom laughed and closed the door behind him, "Of course, sit at the table," she eyed him suspiciously, "alone for six hours, huh?" she whispered to herself. "You seem in a good mood more so then usual," she noted, setting food down in front of the spiky haired boy.

Cloud shrugged, "I don't think so."

It didn't take him long to fall asleep that night. He seemed more exhausted than usual.

"_Ancient…"_

"You again?"

"_Protect…"_

"What?"

"_Her…"_

"Her?"

Cloud woke up, confused. Were these recurring dreams a sign? What did "ancient" mean? And who is "her"? Was it Aerith? If it was how was he supposed to protect a ghost? It didn't make sense to Cloud. He shrugged and got up for the day. He went downstairs for breakfast but soon he was out the door before his mom got a word out of him. Cloud wondered if he went to the mansion now, if Aerith would be awake.

"Wait, does she sleep? Probably not…," he talked to himself.

"Hey, Cloud!" Jak ran up to him.

Cloud stopped and saw Jak, Tifa, and some other boys running up to him.

"What?" Cloud became immediately annoyed.

"We say you coming out of the mansion last night; did you face your fears?" Jak laughed.

"Yep," he said and began to walk off.

"He's different today, huh?" Tifa noticed.

"Yeah, whatever," Jak said and began to walk off in the other direction of Cloud, "Come on, Tifa!"

Cloud made sure that the group didn't follow him. Soon he walked up to the mansion and opened the door. He went in and closed the door then waited for the cheerful girl. It was quiet so Cloud began to wonder the mansion. He walked up the stairs and went into a room on the right. Then there were three bedrooms to pick from.

"Aerith?" he poked his head in the room on the far left.

"Cloud!" she appeared behind him.

"Hey!" he turned around quickly.

"Did I scare you?" she laughed.

"A little," he chuckled.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked.

"Yea…," he was about to ask her if she slept well, but he wasn't sure that was the right question to ask.

"I don't sleep," she smiled.

"Read my mind?"

"Read your face," she put her glowing hand on his cheek. Heat quickly went to his face as he began to blush. Sure, she was a ghost, but a ghost that had a weird effect on him.

She pulled back, and giggled, "You're cute," she smiled.

"Ah, thanks…," he didn't know how to take the compliment, since he had never gotten one like that before.

It got quiet for a moment and he noticed Aerith looking out the window. She had done that a lot the day before.

"Hey," she looked at him.

"Yes?" she tilted her head.

"I'll be right back," he said and ran out of the door leaving a confused Aerith.

About an hour later Cloud came back, Aerith was waiting in the living room. When he opened the door he brought in a big bouquet of flowers. Her smile grew and her sapphire eyes widened as he came in and held out the flowers for her.

"I thought you might want to see some flowers since you love them so much." He took the flowers to a table and set them in front of the window so the sun could shine on them.

"Cloud…you didn't have too," she smiled at him then at the flowers.

"I noticed you have been looking outside a lot and yesterday you mentioned you loved flowers so…here."

"Thank you," Aerith smiled.

Cloud felt something in his stomach he had never felt before. It was such a good feeling. He had never actually cared enough to go out of his way to get something for someone, and here he is running around the mountains to gather flowers for a ghost. When he saw her eyes sparkle, though, it was worth it.

(())

Hey, everyone. I'm alive!! lol, sorry for the late updates, but now I'm working on updates for everything ^^ Gosh, the Clorith kawaiiness soothes the soul, ne? I LOVE IT! anyway, the story will get better with more chapters to come XD thanks for reading~


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note - Hey, all ^^ Here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy! Thing's are gonna get serious XD LOL! Don't you just love Clorith? I know I do! Anywho..thanks SecretBox for betaing this chapter for me! ;]

Oh, and...

Happy Birthday Cloud!! :3 -hands Cloud an Aerith plushie-

Cloud: Aerith! -snuggles-

I do not own Final Fantasy VII..cause if I did I would own Aerith =O

* * *

It had been a week since Cloud had met the friendly ghost. And so many times he wanted to ask how she died, and what happened. Did she die a horrible death? Was it a tragedy? When he thought of bad things happening to the lovely wisp he could feel the heat rise in his veins. Who could kill such a nice, caring, beautiful person?

His visits to the ghost became short due to suspicions. People started talking after his third long visit to the mansion. The whispers have begun to die down now.

"Cloud, what are you doing today?"

His mother asked him as he walked down the stairs to the kitchen.

_Going to see Aerith._

"Nothing," he replied as he sat down at the table.

"Good!" she said, cheerfully, "then I'm sure you would love to go to Tifa's birthday party?"

"Sure, wait what?" Cloud looked up at his mother.

"Tifa's birthday party," she repeated as she fixed Cloud's breakfast.

"Did…she invite me?" he looked back down at the table.

"Yeah, she came over yesterday when you were out…doing whatever you do now."

"Ah…," he rubbed the back of his neck, "well…," he trailed off.

"Hm?" His mother brought over eggs and bacon and sat the plate in front of him.

"I don't know if I can go…," he didn't look up at his mom.

"I thought you said you weren't doing anything," his mother went back to the stove.

"Well, ah…," he played with his food.

_Crap. I can't just say 'I'm going to see my friend Aerith; she lives in the Shinra Mansion.'_

Cloud thought for a moment and decided to attend the party, but leave early. Really early.

"What time does it start?" he began eating.

"1 'o clock," she hummed.

"Ah, ok," Cloud nodded and finished up his food.

Cloud ate his food slowly thinking of the ghost waiting for him and the girl next door. Why did she invite him when she never pays attention to him? Did her friends put her up to it? Or her father? Cloud honestly didn't want to go, not because he didn't like Tifa, but because of her friends. Plus, he wanted to go see _her._

Cloud hovered around his house until the time came to go to Tifa's party. He didn't have time to go to the mansion before Tifa's party, and if he did and forgot they would go looking for him.

Cloud didn't have a present for Tifa, and he surely wasn't good with cards and words. He knew the embarrassment would come when he wouldn't have something to give her.

As Cloud walked next door he began to get really nervous. He had always liked Tifa and now he was going to her birthday party. A week ago she would barely recognize him; what had changed?

When he came up to the door, he knocked. He heard kids laughing inside and footsteps coming toward the door.

"Cloud," Tifa's father answered the door.

"Hey, Mr. Lockhart," Cloud looked up at the man. He could see the sadness in his eyes from his wife's death still.

"Come on in," he stepped out of the doorway for the boy to walk in.

"Thanks," he walked in awkwardly.

Cloud slowly walked to the kitchen; he could hear all the boys laughing with Tifa. As he reached the doorway they all stopped and looked at him. Cloud became uncomfortable very quickly.

"Hey, it's Cloud!" Jak said.

"Thanks for coming, Cloud!" Tifa jumped up happily.

"No problem," he scratched the back of his neck. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks! Come sit down!"

"I'll just stand, I'm not staying long," Cloud explained.

"Really? Why not?" a disappointed Tifa asked.

Cloud shrugged, "had plans already today."

"Oh yeah? What kind?" Jak narrowed his eyes.

"None of your business," Cloud replied instantly.

They all stared up at Cloud, shocked at his reaction.

"What has gotten into you?" Jak asked.

"I don't know what you mean." Cloud shook his head.

"It's like…you don't care anymore," Jak replied.

"About what?" Cloud asked innocently.

It grew quiet in the room and Cloud felt horribly awkward.

"Sorry, Tifa." He said and turned, "happy birthday." He said and left.

Cloud ran once he left the house. He ran past the mansion hoping that if someone saw him they weren't thinking he was going inside. After a good fifteen minutes he snuck by the fence and climbed over it, walked through the weeds and the tall grass until he came to the door. He quickly opened the door and slipped through.

He had been closing the doors himself now, so they wouldn't shut and scare him anymore. He turned around, went to all the windows, and opened the curtains for light to squeeze through.

"You came!"

Cloud smiled softly when he turned around to face the wonderful ghost.

And as always, she was smiling.

How he yearned for that warming smile when he was gone.

"Sorry I'm late," he looked toward the ground.

"It's alright," she leaned towards Cloud's face, and instantly he stumbled back, embarrassed.

He could feel his cheeks turning red so he turned around.

"I..ah…had to go somewhere before coming here that's why," he turned back around once he calmed down.

Aerith laughed, "I said it's alright, I wasn't mad."

"Ok, good," Cloud breathed.

"I know you have your own life Cloud…," Aerith said softly.

"Huh?" he wasn't quite sure what she had said exactly, though he had an idea.

"You have your whole life ahead of you, Cloud…" she started, "I know you're not going to come here for the rest of your life."

Cloud had never thought the girl would ever look even somewhat sad, but there she was, trying to hold up a smile for him. He could see the sadness in her eyes, and her glow disappeared a little.

He began to get uncomfortable with her words. Why wouldn't he come to see her?

"Why wouldn't I?" he blurted, surprised even in himself.

She looked up at him, her emerald eyes looking deep into his sapphire ones.

"You'll grow, get married, and have kids." She stated as a fact, "why would you come to see a ghost when you can _live." _She half laughed.

"What if I don't want those…," he trailed off, looking at anything but her.

She giggled at his awkwardness then, "surely, you do want those." She stopped, "who wouldn't?"

Cloud knew she wanted to live so badly. To see the sun, flowers, the world. She wanted to live, and get married, have kids. She just wanted to have a life.

"Anyway," she coughed, trying to make the mood lighter, "you know you haven't really seen the mansion that much, want me to give you a tour?" She giggled.

Cloud nodded, "alright."

They walked up the stairs first, Aerith leading the way. They went to the left and she showed him the three rooms. They went counter clock wise with each door, and when they went in the last one Cloud noticed a safe.

"Cloud?" Aerith asked as he went past her to walk to the sealed safe.

"Do you know what's in this?" he asked, curious.

"Yes," she replied softly.

He looked up at her, "Oh, well," he stood, thinking she didn't want to talk about it.

"There's a key in it, silly," she giggled and walked up to the safe.

"Oh," he lightly chuckled, "where does the key go to?"

"Follow me," she nodded and walked out of the door.

Cloud didn't waste any time following the ghost across the hall into another room. She stopped at a brick wall and pointed to it.

"This is a secret door," she confirmed, "it goes to the basement and there is a locked door down there. Someone…is locked inside…," she trailed off.

"Someone's locked inside?! We have to get the key and-,"

"He's sleeping," she interrupted.

"Sleeping?"

"Yeah…that's all I know. It's weird that's the only room I can't enter…," she trailed off, thinking of something but soon let it go, "I knew him…a long time ago."

"You did?"

"Yeah…," she looked at the secret door then at Cloud. "We were close, actually."

"Ah…," Cloud looked down.

"Cloud…," she said softly, and he looked up at her, "I bet you're wondering how I died aren't you?"

oOo

"Hey! We got mail from Shinra today!"

A boy busted into the backroom of the Inn. There were a group of men sitting at a table that looked up at the boy.

"Shinra?" a man stood up and walked over to open the letter.

"What's it say?" another man stood.

"It says that a few 1st class Soldier's are coming to investigate the Shinra mansion…,"


	4. Chapter 4

"Cloud…," she said softly, and he looked up at her, "I bet you're wondering how I died aren't you?"

Cloud looked up at her, surprised. "W-what?" He looked down trying to seem like he had never thought about it, but she knew.

"It's okay," she whispered and put her glowing hand on his arm.

The feeling from her hand was warm, and it made his stomach twist.

"Yeah...I have thought about it before...," he admitted looking back up into her eyes.

"Well, I'll tell you then," she gestured for Cloud to follow her back up the stairs, and when they got up to the bedroom Cloud sat down in a chair. He had a feeling it was going to be a long story.

"I'm not actually from this town," she began, "I'm from the northern continent, born in the town of Icicle Inn."

Cloud looked at her, amazed that she was from another place but was stuck here.

My father was a professor, and one day Shinra asked him to investigate a mansion in a place called Nibelheim...," she turned and looked out the window next to Cloud, "he wanted me and my mother to go with him, and I was fourteen at the time."

_"Come on, honey!" Professor Gast sighed._

_"I don't want to move!" Ifalna argued, "and I'm sure Aerith doesn't either," she whispered, making sure their daughter didn't hear them argue._

_"Awe, you don't know that! I see Aerith looking at books all the time that involve places that aren't covered in snow," he explained._

_Ifalna sighed, "you're right...she does look at them all the time...," she admitted._

_"Let's just ask her."_

_Ifalna thought for a moment, and then nodded._

_"Aerith!" They both called._

_In a second the young girl came through the door and smiled, "yes?"_

_They eyed her, "were you listening the whole time?" Her father asked._

_She giggled, "Maybe!" _

_They smiled down at her and laughed, "Well then I guess you know what the question it!" Her mother crossed her hers._

_"Well, what do you think?" Professor Gast knelt down to Aerith's level and smiled._

_She nodded, "I think it's a great idea! I would love to go see places with flowers!" She clasped her hands together._

_"I figured," her dad stood and patted her on the head._

_"It's settled then," her mother couldn't argue anymore, "we'll move to Nibelheim!"_

"......" Cloud frowned, she had been so happy to move...what if she hadn't died? How old would she be? How much older would she have been than him?

"So we moved here, and it was beautiful just like I had imagined. I found a field of flowers that no one ever went too...is that where you got the flowers before?" She asked the boy.

Cloud perked his head up, "um, yeah," he nodded, "I found it a few years ago but had never been there since."

"I used to go there everyday," she smiled.

"Which house did you move into?" Cloud asked wondering if she used to live in his home.

"When you walk through the gate and get to the village it's the first one on the left side. A small, pretty two story house."

Cloud's eyes widened, "that's my house!"

She grinned, "Really?"

"Yeah," Cloud got excited, "which room?"

She giggled, "The one on the top floor."

"That's my room!"

Aerith laughed some more, "what a small world huh?"

"Yeah...," Cloud wondered what her room looked like when she lived there.

"Well, anyway," Aerith started, "after we moved there I got to know everyone. They were so nice! I met my father's partners too. There was Professor Lucrecia, Professor Hojo, and a Turk named Vincent Valentine," she stopped, and looked at Cloud. "Vincent is the one sleeping in the room in the basement."

"Oh...," he looked down.

"I became close to Vincent even though he was supposed to be protecting Lucrecia. She would work a lot so he would come and lay out in the flower field while I picked them."

Cloud looked back up and Aerith and saw sadness in her eyes.

"It the best year of my life...until...," she looked down, becoming sad. "Until the night Shinra killed my family."

"What?!" Cloud clenched his fists; he had heard good things about Shinra and wanted to join SOLDIER.

"It was the day...they found out who I really was...,"

_"Dear, where's Aerith?" Ifalna asked when her husband walked into the house._

_"Oh, she's at the flower field of course," he laughed._

_"Is Vincent there with her? I like that boy and I feel better that he's around when she's running off by herself."_

_"No, I think he's in the mansion with Lucrecia and Hojo," Professor Gast sat down at the table in the middle of the room._

_"Oh, what a shame." She sighed._

_"Professor Gast? Open this door immediately!" A loud knock came at the door._

_Ifalna jumped and Professor Gast went up to the door, "who is this?" He asked._

_"Professor, its Hojo!"_

_"Be careful!" Ifalna whispered as her husband opened the door._

_"What's the meaning of this!?" He yelled when five SOLDIER's came through the door._

_Hojo laughed, "Lucky for me your wife and child were here all along!"_

_"What do you mean!?" Professor Gast went back and stood protectively in front of his wife._

_"She is an Ancient," Hojo pointed at her. _

_They gasped, "How did you find out...?" Ifalna asked sheepishly._

_Hojo laughed evilly, "it wasn't hard," he became serious, "now, Ifalna, come with me!"_

_"You're not taking her!" Professor Gast took a few steps in front of her and put his arms out._

_"Honey!" She called._

_"Shoot him." Hojo ordered._

_The SOLDIER's put up their guns, and pulled the trigger._

_"No!" Ifalna ran and pushed her husband out of the way, getting shot instead._

_Professor Gast fell to the ground, "Ifalna!" He yelled and went next to his wife._

_"Fools!" Hojo hissed._

_"Ifalna?" He whispered, touching her face._

_"I love you...," she whispered, and closed her eyes._

_Hojo growled, "Well at least they have a child."_

_"You bastard!" Professor Gast ran toward the SOLDER's but they shot him before he could get to one of them. "Aerith...," he whispered as he fell._

_Hojo smirked and walked outside of the house, "Vincent!" He called for the Turk who was walking out of the mansion._

_Vincent ran up to the professor and stopped, "what?"_

_"Go find Aerith," he commanded._

_"Why?" Vincent snapped._

_"I thought you might want to find her since there were fiends let loose in the mountains," Hojo lied._

_"What?!" Vincent ran towards the mountains unaware of Hojo's true intend._

_The Turk ran until he got to the flower field where Aerith was picking them happily._

_"Aerith!" Vincent yelled as he ran up to her._

_"Vincent!" She stood, "what's wrong?"_

_"I wanted to make sure you were alright."_

_"Oh, I'm fine!" She smiled._

_"Well, we should get you home before it gets dark," he gestured his hand for her to walk past him._

_"Okay," she nodded, and picked up the flowers she had gathered._

_They walked slowly to Aerith's house, enjoying each other's company. When they got close to the house Aerith ran to her front door._

_"Mom, dad!" She yelled, happily opening the door, "look at all the flowers I...," she gasped, and dropped her flowers, "no!" She screamed._

_Vincent ran up and looked beyond Aerith seeing her parents dead on the floor, "what happened?!"_

_"Mom, dad!" She ran forward."_

_"Aerith, no!" Vincent ran and grabbed her before she got to her parents._

_"No...," she wept and put her hands over her eyes._

_"Aerith you don't need to see this," he guided her outside of the house._

_"There you are!" Hojo called._

_Vincent and Aerith looked up to see Hojo and some SOLDER's behind him._

_"Hojo, what's going on!?" Vincent stood in front of Aerith._

_Hojo laughed, "Aerith's parents weren't willing to assist me in my project so I had to get rid of them, but Aerith will do just fine."_

_"What?!" Vincent yelled, Aerith cried. "You won't take her!"_

_"Oh, I will," he held out his hand for the SOLDIER's to go after them._

_"Aerith, run," Vincent whispered._

_"But-,"_

_"No, go!"_

_Aerith ran past her house and up towards the Shinra mansion._

_"Get her!" Hojo yelled, but Vincent jumped in front of the gang of SOLDIER's._

_Aerith went past the mansion to go to the mountains but some SOLDIER's were coming down from the reactor. She turned around and went into the Shinra mansion and closed the door. She looked around the old mansion; she had never actually entered it before now. She saw a door ahead of her and went through it. There were a few windows on the back wall, so she ran up to the one on the left and opened it. She was about to go through but she decided to fake it instead. She took off her bracelet and threw it outside making it seem like she went through the path in the backyard._

_She jumped when she heard the SOLDIER's bust through the front door. She looked around and to her left she saw what looked like a secret door in the wall._

_She ran up to it and tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge so she hit it, and it opened. It looked like a small storage area that hadn't been used in a while. She crawled in and shut the door._

"Wait...what happened...?" Cloud shuddered.

"They never found me, but...I couldn't get out of that small room...it was locked from the inside."

"You mean...you...?" Cloud looked at her, horrified.

She nodded.

"Aerith," Cloud frowned, "I am so sorry." He closed his eyes.

"That was twenty years ago," she whispered.

"Wait, how come no one has mentioned this incident in the village!?" Cloud opened his eyes and jumped out of the chair.

"I'm sure Shinra covered it up, or persuaded the village we moved or something," Aerith shrugged.

Cloud clenched his fists, "damn them! They'll pay for this!"

Aerith looked at him surprised, and then smiled, "Cloud."

He stopped and looked up at her, "what?"

"Thank you," she nodded, and smiled.

His anger melted when she smiled at him, "n-no problem," he scratched the back of his head. "Did you…," Cloud trailed off.

"Did I what?" Aerith tilted her head.

"Love that Vincent guy?" He felt awkward asking, but he couldn't help it.

She giggled, "I fell for him, yes, but he was in love with Lucrecia."

"Oh…I'm sorry," he said not knowing what else to say.

She shook her head, "don't be, he was my first love, and only that." She smiled.

"Ok." He nodded.

"Anyway," she shook her head," let's go back down to the main floor."

She and Cloud went down the stairs, and stopped in front of the front door.

"Aerith, I'll bring you flowers everyday!" He blurted.

She giggled, "That's so sweet of you, Cloud."

"I'm sorry I have to leave...," he looked down at the ground.

"Don't be," she leaned forward trying to make eye contact, but he jumped back, embarrassed. "Sorry!" She laughed.

He blushed, "it's alright."

"I hope to see you soon."

"Don't worry," he nodded and gave her a smile.

She smiled in return.

When Cloud reached his front door he stopped when he heard voices coming from in front of the Inn. He looked over and saw four men in uniform except two had their own uniforms. One had long silver hair, and the other had black spiky hair.

"Cloud?" His mom opened the door.

"Mom, who are they?" He asked, not looking away from them.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you! Those are SOLDIER's from Shinra!"

"What?!" He clenched his fists.

"I bet you're excited since you want to be one! Those men with the black and silver hair are 1st class SOLDIER's! Zack and Sephiroth," she confirmed.

"Sephiroth?!" Cloud gasped. That man was his hero, but he wasn't sure anymore. Cloud watched as they went inside the Inn.

"Come on, Cloud, time for dinner!" His mom said, and went inside.

"Maybe...they can help me...," Cloud wondered.

* * *

Author's Note - So I know Cloud's house wasn't a two story in the game, but I changed it so...deal with it XD Also, when it came the time to 'kill Aerith' I was stumped. I had a few different ideas...but nothing really fit with the storyline and I didn't want to change it (in the future). Soo...yeah...and when I wrote it I was like, "nooo Aerith I'm sorry!!!" XD XD yeah...angsty past, she has D: oh well Clorith fluff at the end! XD And for those you reading, thanks :) Review? 8D


End file.
